Uber Announces Plan To Quit Tracking Riders After Drop-Off

A customer holds an Apple Inc. iPhone displaying the Uber in an arranged photograph in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday, July 13, 2016. (Credit: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg)

The country's ride-hail leader is rolling back on how the app tracks users as part of its public quest to pull a U-turn.

Uber will reportedly be phasing out an update it made to the app last year which limited users' options for when their data is gathered. The company will now allow iOS and (soon) Android users to opt for tracking during rides only, replacing the previous options of "always" or "never."

According to Reuters, which first reported this news, the company's leaders now believe that the decision to make riders choose between being "always" or "never" monitored, rather than just during rides, was "a mistake." In an interview with Reuters, Uber Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan said the company had previously endured "a lack of expertise" on privacy, but that it's committed to improving its stance on that front.

In late 2016, Uber introduced the update so it could theoretically gather data from riders for an extra five minutes after their rides as related to parking conditions and such. The company later said that it had suspended this five-minute surveying with Android users, and never began with Apple ones.

Sullivan, who's helped co-steer Uber as part of an executive team since CEO Travis Kalanick's departure this summer, told Reuters, “We’ve been building through the turmoil and challenges because we already had our mandate.”

Taxi drivers protest against competition from rival transport companies Uber and Cabify in the center of Madrid on July 27, 2017. (Credit: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)

Following months of scandals involving the company, ride-hail platforms, and the tech industry itself, Uber has been digging into its self-imposed180 Days of Change program and announced some measures to improve driver conditions and earnings along the way.

As Reuters noted, the move comes two weeks after the ride-hail giant settled a complaint by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it had failed to protect the personal info of riders and drivers and "was deceptive about its efforts to prevent snooping by its employees." Uber has agreed to conduct an audit every two years for the two decades to demonstrate its FTC compliance.

In response to Uber's latest move, the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) updated a previous statement on its concerns about the company's tracking program to include the following:

[There] are many legitimate reasons that a rider would want privacy in their final destination. Indeed, Apple recognized the importance of the 'While Using' setting, making it always available in the upcoming iOS 11. Even after iOS11 drops this Fall, by removing the post-ride tracking, Uber’s change will enhance the privacy of those who chose the 'Always' setting after the last change. However, EFF recommends that all users manually change their Uber location privacy setting back to While Using after they receive the update.

Melanie Ensign of Uber's Security and Privacy Communications team told NPR News in an email that the company is "working through the mechanics for Android now but [is] committed to parity and transparency, privacy [and] choice across both platforms."

Uber did not respond to a request for comment, which will be added here when and if available. The company is expected to make a public statement on the matter this week.

I'm a freelance writer covering tech, media, science, and culture. My background includes the areas of writing, editing, and education, and I received Bachelor and Master of Arts Degrees from the University of British Columbia and California State University, East Bay, resp...